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Plans Call for Reinforcements at Johannes Leonardo

A BOUTIQUE agency that is becoming increasingly known for its unconventional creative output is bringing in its first chief executive to lead additional growth efforts.

The agency, Johannes Leonardo in New York, is hiring as chief executive Michael Duda, whose résumé includes serving as partner and chief corporate strategy officer at the Deutsch agency in New York, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, along with stints at agencies like Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners.

Mr. Duda joins Johannes Leonardo from a marketing consultancy and investment fund named Consigliere Brand Capital, where he was managing partner since he started the firm in 2010 with the basketball star Steve Nash.

Mr. Duda, 42, is being brought aboard by the two Johannes Leonardo partners with creative backgrounds who founded the agency in 2007, Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico. Mr. Jacobs, 43, and Mr. Premutico, 35, who had been serving as de facto chief executives, will continue in their posts as co-chief creative officers. Mr. Duda will be a partner as well as the chief executive.

The hiring is indicative of steps that many agencies take as a year draws to a close to ready themselves for the challenges of the year to come. Along with bringing in senior managers, agencies are also forming divisions in specialty areas like digital media, public relations and social media. And there is a spate of deals as some agencies seek growth through acquisitions.

As Mr. Duda arrives at Johannes Leonardo, the agency is also beefing up its creative ranks, hiring a team, Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber, to serve in the new posts of executive creative directors. Mr. Martin and Mr. Schreiber join from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, part of the Clemenger BBDO division of BBDO Worldwide, where they had been creative directors.

Johannes Leonardo, which is 49 percent owned by the giant agency holding group WPP, has about 40 employees and was named a small agency of the year for 2011 by the trade publication Advertising Age. The agency has worked for clients that include Bacardi, the Bezos Family Foundation, Chanel, Coca-Cola, Daffy’s, Google, Nike and WNYC.

For the Coca-Cola Company, for instance, Johannes Leonardo is creating campaigns that run around the world for brands like Sprite. The agency’s initial campaign for the diet drinks Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Light is tentatively scheduled to start appearing in February.

At Johannes Leonardo, “We’ve been fortunate to work on some blue-chip pieces of business, and we’re planning some really aggressive growth,” Mr. Jacobs said. “We’ve gotten to the point where we felt it was time to get someone aboard who has that skill set Mike has.”

Mr. Premutico cited Mr. Duda’s experience in the last three years in start-ups with Consigliere, which has worked with brands like Birchbox, Chobani, Dish Network, Under Armour and Warby Parker, as well as “the experience Mike had at Deutsch in a new-business capacity.”

“That’s a great combination,” Mr. Premutico said. “He can help big brands remain nimble by bringing an entrepreneurial mind-set to them.”

Mr. Jacobs said that Mr. Duda “came recommended to us by a number of people who said, ‘You should know this guy, whether or not you end up working together.’ ”

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Mr. Premutico called Mr. Duda “a great guy with a genuine passion for where the industry is headed,” which is increasingly important as “digital agencies try to add skills in traditional advertising, and traditional agencies try to add digital skills.”

That future is encapsulated by a saying often repeated by Mr. Premutico and Mr. Jacobs: “The consumer is the medium,” reflecting how consumers are, they say, empowered by new platforms like social media.

Mr. Duda said he was receptive to the overtures from Johannes Leonardo because he realized “on an emotional level, I quite missed the business,” particularly as the “many up-and-coming, creatively driven agencies” help reshape Madison Avenue.

“Being an entrepreneur,” he added, “I appreciate what Jan and Leo did” in starting the agency after working together at the London and New York offices of Saatchi & Saatchi, part of the Publicis Groupe.

Mr. Duda listed among his attributes “an ability to listen to develop solutions to the problem at hand.”

“You have two ears and one mouth for a reason,” he said.

Mr. Duda also said he had developed more empathy for clients, “having seen more of the client side” while at Consigliere, which also works with entrepreneurs to take stakes in start-up companies.

“We think when we talk that we know about client issues,” Mr. Duda said, “but it has been eye-opening.”

As for Consigliere, plans call for the firm to continue operations under a new structure and leadership; Mr. Duda will remain an investor. Johannes Leonardo may in the future collaborate with Consigliere in some capacity, though the details have not been fleshed out.

A version of this article appears in print on November 26, 2013, on Page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: Plans for Growth Call for Reinforcements. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe